Monastery of St. Benedict (Norcia)

The Benedictine Monks of Norcia (Italian: Monastero di San Benedetto di Norcia) are members of the Order of St. Benedict and are located in Nursia, Italy, in the extreme southeast tip of Umbria beneath the slopes of the Sibylline mountains. The current monastery is physically located above the 5th century ruins of the house of St. Benedict and his twin sister St. Scholastica, and has been the location of monastic communities since the tenth century AD. Today the Monks of Norcia care for the spiritual, pastoral, and temporal needs of approximately 50,000 pilgrims from around the world who annually visit the birthplace of Sts. Benedict and Scholastica.

The monastery's basilica, erected in the late 14th century, collapsed on October 30, 2016, after a 6.6 magnitude earthquake.

In the 8th century an oratory was built so pilgrims could pray at the place of St. Benedict’s birth. Monks came to Norcia in the 10th century, and remained in one form or another until 1810, when they were forced to flee under the new laws of the Napoleonic Code. The current Benedictine community was founded in Rome on September 3, 1998, without being conditioned by previous historical circumstances. These original monks transferred from Rome to Norcia on December 2, 2000, in the great Jubilee Year, becoming The Benedictine Monks of Norcia. They were charged by Rome to care for the Basilica of San Benedetto (built over the birthplace of St Benedict and St Scholastica) and for the many visiting pilgrims. The Benedictines of Norcia see themselves as humble instruments for the necessary New Evangelization of Europe. As of July 2011 there are nineteen monks living at Norcia, four of whom are ordained priests and two novices. The Benedictine Monastery of Norcia is also known as the Benedictine monastery Maria Sedes Sapientiae (“Mary Seat of Wisdom”). In February 2012 the Monastery was canonically established under the supervision of the Abbot Primate of the Benedictine Confederation. In late October 2016, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck central Italy, leveling most of the monastery.

The Basilica of St. Benedict was located on the traditional birthplace of St. Benedict and St. Scholastica.

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